Uber epitomizes disruption. The company has changed the way we think about grabbing a ride, incorporating the same technology we take for granted today into a brand new experience for consumers and an opportunity for producers.

That said, the company has come up against a number of obstacles and still, it’s valued well north of $10 billion.

Winter, 2008

2008

Garrett Camp had sold StumbleUpon to Ebay, and was hanging around with another exited entrepreneur by the name of Travis Kalanick. Camp wanted to tackle the Taxi problem in San Francisco.

2008

The original pitch involved splitting the costs of a driver, a Mercedes S Class, and a parking spot in a garage between himself and Kalanick, alongside an iPhone app, of course.

March, 2009

By spring, Camp has a prototype in the works. The name is UberCab.

June, 2009

But Camp still has a full-time gig running StumbleUpon, after spinning it back out of eBay and taking over once again. He hires Kalanick as the Ubercab’s chief incubator, to see the company through the San Francisco launch.

January, 2010

Kalanick, Camp, and Oscar Salazar, who helped build the prototype, hit the streets of New York to test the service. They had three cars.

March, 2010

After a Twitter exchange, Ryan Graves moves from Chicago to San Francisco to be Uber’s General Manager.

July, 2012

Winter, 2012

As Uber expands into new cities, the company faces regulatory opposition in all shapes and sizes. But Kalanick promises to press forward.

November, 2012

Uber comes under scrutiny once again for surge pricing during Hurricane Sandy, but ultimately waives the fee and lets drivers take home the whole fair.

Spring, 2013

After being fined $20,000 in the fall of 2012 from the California Public Utilities Commission for operating an unlicensed taxi service and limousine dispatch, Uber strikes a deal with the CPUC, which removes the cease-and-desist letter from the company. The fines are not charged.

Summer, 2013

Now two years old, Uber faces competition from ride-sharing services like Lyft (which has been growing for about a year) as well as regulatory opposition in multiple markets, including internationally.

August, 2013

But with $361.2 million in new funding at a $3.7 billion valuation, it’s pretty easy to brush the dirt off.

September, 2013

November, 2013

Uber strikes a deal with auto manufacturers to lower the cost of car ownership for drivers.

January, 2014

A six-year old girl, Sophia Liu, is tragically killed when an Uber-contracted driver strikes her at a San Francisco crosswalk. Uber denies liability, noting in a statement that “this tragedy did not involve a vehicle or provider doing a trip on the Uber system.”

March, 2014

Uber announces an insurance plan for drivers to extend their own personal coverage, focusing on when there are no passengers in the car.

April, 2014

With 100 cities offering Uber car service globally, Uber experiments with a courier service called Uber Rush.

June, 2014

August, 2014

Uber and Lyft both claim that drivers and employees are regularly hailing and canceling rides on each other’s services. Uber says Lyft employees have canceled about 13,000 trips and Lyft claims Uber has canceled about 5,000 of its rides.

Present

Uber is still fighting Lyft and other competitors, as well as regulatory opposition across the globe. It’s also a member of the $10 billion+ club.